Technic 2023 Set Discussion

[howitzer]

Sariel's presentation is great and he's skilled and knows a lot, but somehow I often tend to disagree on the conclusions and sometimes there's negativity which feels a bit unfair (though this is minor thing). I like reviews from Racingbrick a lot, as I often agree with @kbalage's opinions (after buying a set and seeing for myself) and I also love New Elementary's reviews, as their focus on parts is really interesting - and also importantly, those are text and photos instead of video reviews. I have no doubt though, that any of these reviewers present anything but their honest opinions on the sets, and it's almost never just praise, negative aspects of a set get mentioned too.

[TeamThrifty]

2 hours ago, Maaboo35 said:

My concern is that Sariel will skip past sets he considers not worth his time, and thus we won't get his take on them. What if he can't be bothered with the John Deere 948L-II? I mean, that's probably unlikely, but still. He even missed out a couple of sets from the recent January wave.

Sariel may be skilled at building... however his reviews are very negative. He just comes across as miserable and bitter. I don't watch his output anymore, so him not reviewing a set is no loss in my eyes.

Compare his reviews and @Jim 's back to back. One is accurate and comes from a place of joy and one isn't

[AVCampos]

I actually like his reviews (also TechLug's, which are often even more negative), but indeed that's a subjective matter.

But that proves my point: if Sariel's reviews were biased because he receives the sets from LEGO, shouldn't they all be glowingly positive?

[Maaboo the Witch]

33 minutes ago, TeamThrifty said:

Sariel may be skilled at building... however his reviews are very negative. He just comes across as miserable and bitter. I don't watch his output anymore, so him not reviewing a set is no loss in my eyes.

Compare his reviews and @Jim 's back to back. One is accurate and comes from a place of joy and one isn't

I see him as more of a realist. Funnily enough, his review of the Ford Craptor was actually mildly positive, which was a rarity.

[allanp]

I tend to find reviewers all have their own different biases, unbrickme wants a set with a gearbox for example. We all have our biases and opinions and I don't see why reviewers should be expected to be any different. But I really don't sense any bias in favour of Lego due to being given sets "for free". I say "for free" in quotations because going by my hourly rate at work, the time to film and edit a review for YouTube would cost Lego more than the set is worth, so it's not really for free, it's compensation for the time and effort spent making the review. Secondly, I haven't based a buying decision based on a reviewers own opinions of a set, but rather by seeing the sets functions in action, seeing how realistically the functions are recreated and the parts list. These are things that remain the same regardless of if the reviewer is "sucking up" to Lego or not. It is true that sucking up for freebies happens in other industries, especially movies, but Lego can't hide the final product from their audience like you can with a movie. So, as much as I might sometimes disagree with a reviewer, the fact is that I can disagree, and the idea that reviewers are giving false positive reviews for free Lego is nonsense, at least from the reviewers I have seen.

Edited March 6, 2023 by allanp

[Paul B Technic]

When I did reviews a few years ago, I always based them on my views and what I want from a set. Everybody has different ideas, not everybody likes everything for good or not so good reasons...

[Dylan M]

I don't care for the review... Anyone?... i care only for early seeing the set, parts list function... that's it, i Don't let anyone spoil something that i (the buyer) discover first, 

I don't care for their thoughts, 

(Sorry for Off topic)...

[Gimmick]

15 hours ago, valenciaeric said:

Have any of you made a Lego buying decision purely based on the opinion of a product review?

No, my taste seems to be kind of nonconforming, so I often buy sets with bad ratings xD.

8 hours ago, allanp said:

I tend to find reviewers all have their own different biases, unbrickme wants a set with a gearbox for example. [snip]

Yep, and the best anyone can do is: When they make their purchasing decisions dependent on testers -> find one who shares your taste.

And the best the tester can do is: Accept that some things are subjective opinions and don't sell this opinion as general fact. And don't rush against people with different taste.

I watch @kbalage's videos regularly (about sets I don't buy anyway xD) and it's not uncommon, that I disagree with him. But the friendly, relaxed atmosphere makes it possible to share the hobby without stressing each other over different opinions.

And even in Asterix, the entire village fights each other just to celebrate together afterwards :D 

18 hours ago, kbalage said:

That's a common observation nowadays. If you don't pay for the exact sets you review suddenly you become totally incapable of justifying its value or properties. It doesn't matter if "honest non-sponsored" reviewers buy their sets from Patreon- or YouTube money, or they actually run a toy shop like HDS, they have to be the source of truth because they have a receipt in hand and they said it's an honest review, so it really has to be :) 

And if the tester makes a living from it, he only says what he earns the most with :D Damn, no matter what you are doing, it's always suspicious... except if someone has the same opinion ;D

[kbalage]

2 hours ago, Gimmick said:

And if the tester makes a living from it, he only says what he earns the most with :D Damn, no matter what you are doing, it's always suspicious... except if someone has the same opinion ;D

If someone has the same opinion frequently that's also suspicious, what if the reviewer only does this to please the audience? :)

[Gimmick]

1 hour ago, kbalage said:

If someone has the same opinion frequently that's also suspicious, what if the reviewer only does this to please the audience? :)

[Erik Leppen]

On 3/6/2023 at 6:15 PM, AVCampos said:

I actually like his reviews (also TechLug's, which are often even more negative), but indeed that's a subjective matter.

But that proves my point: if Sariel's reviews were biased because he receives the sets from LEGO, shouldn't they all be glowingly positive?

I don't experience Techlug's reviews as particularly negative. But myabe I am missing nuances because of the language barrier, but from what I can read from them, they are mostly super detailed and super honest, and actually explain how functions work and whether it actualy works that well. If something has friction, or is hard to operate, or whatever, you'll read it there. Of all the reviews, the Techlug ones make me think the most that they actually thoroughly tested their sets.

Eurobricks text reviews (especially Jim's) were in the upper league as well, but Jim, to me, was mostly known (to me, at least) for his steller photos.

The videos by @kbalage (racingbrick) are also great, highlighting interesting sections of the build, without getting lengthy. I find his method works much better than just the build sped up 20x. Sariel's reviews are fine to me as well, I like how functions and impressions are separate sections.

Edit. Also, Held der Steine's videos have not been this negative about Lego in the beginning. They became negative when Lego themselves started sending letters about stuff like logos with studs on them and the idea that customers might get confused which models are Lego and which arent, as if customers are stupid enough to think that, even though this has always been made clear enough in the videos.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Erik Leppen

[karmadrome]

3 hours ago, Erik Leppen said:

I don't experience Techlug's reviews as particularly negative. But myabe I am missing nuances because of the language barrier, but from what I can read from them, they are mostly super detailed and super honest, and actually explain how functions work and whether it actualy works that well. If something has friction, or is hard to operate, or whatever, you'll read it there. Of all the reviews, the Techlug ones make me think the most that they actually thoroughly tested their sets.

Eurobricks text reviews (especially Jim's) were in the upper league as well, but Jim, to me, was mostly known (to me, at least) for his steller photos.

The videos by @kbalage (racingbrick) are also great, highlighting interesting sections of the build, without getting lengthy. I find his method works much better than just the build sped up 20x. Sariel's reviews are fine to me as well, I like how functions and impressions are separate sections.

Edit. Also, Held der Steine's videos have not been this negative about Lego in the beginning. They became negative when Lego themselves started sending letters about stuff like logos with studs on them and the idea that customers might get confused which models are Lego and which arent, as if customers are stupid enough to think that, even though this has always been made clear enough in the videos.

Held der Steine's reviews on Lego Sets are mainly negative because of the high price and what you get for the same price from other manufacturers. Furthermore, Thomas (Held der Steine) described himself more as an entertainer than a serious reviewer. That said, he does point out a lot of shortcomings/strange decisions by TLG. However, his recent reviews of the new Batcycle and the Ford GT are actually both pretty positive.

[allanp]

Captain, I believe this ship is drifting!

[Milan]

23 minutes ago, allanp said:

Captain, I believe this ship is drifting!

Aye, matey.

Guys, despite the interesting discussion, let's keep this topic for the 2023 sets.
If anyone wants, they can open a new topic about the specific discussion, and I will cut and paste the posts about the reviewers.

[Jundis]

So let's return:

Just checked the lists of my main german sources promobricks and stonewars and there is a slight difference in some release dates for some of the upcoming 2023 models:

Set No.    Promobricks     StoneWars
42156        May 1st            May 1st     <-- Pics should be coming soon?
42157      August 1st         June 1st
42158      August 1st         June 1st
42159      August 1st        August 1st
42160      August 1st        August 1st
42161      August 1st        August 1st
42162      August 1st         June 1st
42146      August 1st        August 1st

I tend to trust Promobricks more, but somehow no models in June would be a letdown... it's also really strange that the release dates are not even known by now?

[Maaboo the Witch]

If Promobricks is indeed correct, then just about everything is to be released on August 1st. Oversaturation much?

Edited March 8, 2023 by Maaboo35

[Jim]

I’m on mobile. Sorry if this has been posted. 699 LoL

Mei 2023:

LEGO® 42156 Peugeot 9x8 Hypercar:

     LEGO® Prijs € 199,99 Pre-Order Prijs € 175,00

 

Pre-Orderen Mei item kan tot 15 April 2023 of zolang de Pre-Order voorraad strekt.

       (  De Release datum van dit artikel is op 1.5.2023 ) uitlevering bij binnenkomst

**

Juni 2023:

LEGO® 42157 Skidder John Deere 948 L-II:

          LEGO® Prijs € 189,99 Pre-Order Prijs € 169,00 ( aanbetaling € 69,00 ) ( restant € 100,00 )

LEGO® 42158 NASA Mars-Rover Perseverance:

LEGO® Prijs € 99,99 Pre-Order Prijs € 85,00 ( aanbetaling € 60,00 )  ( restant € 25,00 )

 

Pre-Orderen Juni items kan tot 10 Mei 2023of zolang de Pre-Order voorraad strekt.

       (  De Release datum van deze 2 artikelen zijn op 1.6.2023 ) uitlevering bij binnenkomst

**

Augustus 2023:

LEGO® 42146 Liebherr LR 13000: ( Mega Kraan hoogte 150cm 6 Motoren, 2 Hubs, Control+ )

          LEGO® Prijs € 699,99 Pre-Order Prijs € 589,00 ( aanbetaling € 139,00 ) ( restant € 450,00 )

LEGO® 42159 Yamaha MT 2022:

LEGO® Prijs € 249,99 Pre-Order Prijs € 209,00 ( aanbetaling € 79,00 )  ( restant € 130,00 )

LEGO® 42160 Audi RS Q e-tron:

          LEGO® Prijs € 179,99 Pre-Order Prijs € 155,00 ( aanbetaling € 65,00 ) ( restant € 90,00 )

LEGO® 42161 Lamborghini Hurrican:

LEGO® Prijs € 59,99 Pre-Order Prijs € 49,00 ( aanbetaling € 24,00 )  ( restant € 25,00 )

 

[Maaboo the Witch]

Good thing I'm not wearing a hat - I'd never find it again after seeing the price for the Lieb.

Nice to see that both of my fave sets are gonna be out in June!

[AVCampos]

1 hour ago, Maaboo35 said:

Good thing I'm not wearing a hat - I'd never find it again after seeing the price for the Lieb.

[eric trax]

On 3/6/2023 at 6:05 PM, TeamThrifty said:

Sariel may be skilled at building... however his reviews are very negative. He just comes across as miserable and bitter. I don't watch his output anymore, so him not reviewing a set is no loss in my eyes.

Funniest thing I've read on this forum.

2 hours ago, Maaboo35 said:

Good thing I'm not wearing a hat - I'd never find it again after seeing the price for the Lieb.

I must say that the pricing policy of lego has gone to the other side of the river. I don't think there's any chance of lower prices coming back.

[kbalage]

It's interesting that the Liebherr is described as 150 cm tall... wasn't it rumored to be downsized? Or is this already the smaller version? :) With 2 hubs and 6 motors, it better have a big pile of metal parts for that price :)

Another thing is the lack of Control+ mentioned on the Audi RS Q e-tron. I wonder if it'll be really motorized or otherwise how that price will be justified.

[keymaker]

12 hours ago, Jim said:

LEGO® 42146 Liebherr LR 13000 € 699,99

So new Liebherr 42146 (2,9k parts, 2 hubs, 6 motors and 700€) versus old Liebherr 42100 (4,1k parts, 2 hubs, 7 motors and 400€) -> it loses in every category, big LOL, it is all I can say.

1 hour ago, kbalage said:

it better have a big pile of metal parts for that price

I would like to, but it won't gonna happen. If I'm not mistaken, lego resigned from metal parts long time ago and last metal pasr was Hook (70496)

 

Edited March 12, 2023 by keymaker

[kbalage]

4 minutes ago, keymaker said:

I would like to, but it won't gonna happen. If I'm not mistaken, lego resigned from metal parts long time ago and last metal pasr was Hook (70496)

I'm 100% sure this won't happen, but I really wonder what magic is hiding in that box that justifies the price. I' fear that TLG's pricing strategy these days is based on the size of the final model, and not based on the parts included.

[keymaker]

1 minute ago, kbalage said:

I' fear that TLG's pricing strategy these days is based on the size of the final model

We can complain here and prove, that such price is a BS, but some "excel guy" decided, that this set will have such price, probably based on some inside data. Pity that we will never know how well this set really did on the market and how much income brought to TLG.

[m2fel]

11 hours ago, eric trax said:

Funniest thing I've read on this forum.

I must say that the pricing policy of lego has gone to the other side of the river. I don't think there's any chance of lower prices coming back.

I think the Ford and Batcycle are amazingly priced for Lego. I would even say they are a good deal and there will be discounts on the market :). I will still continue to buy used Lego or order parts that I need